Battle of Baal V

In the middle sector of the "Anvil" defensive line, Blood Angels Sergeant Herman's bolter suddenly emitted a dull jam.

He swiftly stepped back, avoiding the pounce of a blade bug while checking his weapon.

This was not a mechanical malfunction.

The burst he had just fired at the chest armor of a new Tyranid unit should have penetrated it, yet the bolts had only left dents and scattered fragments across its thickened, smooth carapace.

"Attention! New unit identified! Bolter penetration is reduced!" Herman shouted over the comms, drawing his Power Sword and beheading the blade bug that had lunged at him.

He looked around and saw more of these units appearing along the line, their carapaces visibly thicker and their bodies slightly larger than ordinary warrior bugs.

They advanced steadily through the defenders' bolter fire. Only Plasma Weapons and Meltaguns could inflict effective damage on them.

At the same time, several heavy weapon platforms behind the defensive line suddenly malfunctioned.

The targeting system of one Whirlwind Missile launcher spun madly out of control, while another automated turret shut down completely.

The Tech-Priests tried to reboot the systems, only to find the Machine Spirits unusually agitated. The system logs indicated unknown psychic interference.

"Intense psychic fluctuations detected!" Mephiston, Chief Librarian stationed at the psychic spire of Angel's Fortress, issued a warning. "New psychic units are appearing on the battlefield. Their interference patterns are specifically targeting our mechanical constructs!"

Chen Xi received these reports in the command center of the Indomitable Truth.

He brought up the real-time data streams from the front and saw Imperial weapon efficiency declining across several sectors.

The new heavily armored units were scattered among the Swarm Tide's assault formations, effectively absorbing most bolter fire, while the psychic interference units hid deep within the swarm, periodically disabling critical